


Mice Will Play

by rawkfemme



Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-22
Updated: 2017-07-22
Packaged: 2018-12-05 07:49:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11573625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rawkfemme/pseuds/rawkfemme
Summary: While the captain is away, an inanimate replacement turns out to be no replacement.





	Mice Will Play

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Helen8462](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Helen8462/gifts).



When the trade conference on Cire Prime was extended and Captain Janeway and Commander Tuvok were requested to remain in attendance, it didn’t take long for the crew on board _Voyager_ to grow restless. Being in orbit of an L-Class planet that was too frozen for shore leave, but had ample resources that the locals were willing to trade had left them both spoiled and edgy. Accustomed to being in motion, both physically and mentally, the senior staff had to find projects and diversions to keep their teams occupied.  But eventually the projects dried up. Soon, tempers flared, spats occurred, and feelings were hurt.

On the eighth day that the captain was away, ‘Flat Kat’ was created.

No one knew that her creator named her Flat Kat. In fact, no one knew who her creator was. She just showed up in the mess hall. The life-sized, dura-fiber, corrugated core standee featuring _Voyager’s_ illustrious captain looked like a promotional display from centuries ago.  A two-dimensional Kathryn Janeway stood proudly, looking directly at the viewer.  The image was likely pulled from the ceremony from her promotion to Captain. Her face radiated poise, confidence, and authority.

When the standee was anonymously beamed into the mess hall, Neelix dropped a tray of fruit in surprise. His stammered apologies to the ‘captain’ went to prove how realistic the likeness was.  As with any anomaly, Neelix reported the event to the ranking officer on board, Commander Chakotay.

Upon seeing the captain’s doppelganger keeping vigil near the replicators, Chakotay had to grin. Janeway’s stern yet inviting visage had surprised more than a few crew members who entered the mess hall that morning to enjoy their breakfast. Chakotay decided to let her – _it_ – remain.  It didn’t seem disrespectful, and everyone appeared to be enjoying its presence, a few even going as far as to pose with it for a few holo-images. Neelix promised that he’d keep an eye out in case anything untoward occurred.  Maybe its presence would even help the crew mind their manners.  Who knew?

By the end of that day the table next to the standee was littered with full cups of black coffee. They were touching tributes offered by a loving crew to their honored captain. A crew who didn’t realize how much they missed her presence on-board, and were happy to share a cup of ‘joe’ with the closest substitute they had.

No one was in the darkened mess hall when the blue haze of the transporter beam whisked ‘her’ away at 0300 hours.

=Ʌ=Ʌ=Ʌ=Ʌ=Ʌ=Ʌ=Ʌ=Ʌ=Ʌ=Ʌ=Ʌ=Ʌ=Ʌ=Ʌ=Ʌ=Ʌ=Ʌ=Ʌ=Ʌ=Ʌ=Ʌ=

The next day, the standee was at Sandrine’s.  Someone had leaned a pool cue against it and added a handwritten word bubble over the head reading “Anyone up for a game?” More holo-images were taken of crew members with their arms draped over her shoulders in a friendly embrace.  More tribute beverages were left, but this time it was wine or whiskey.  Again the transporter surreptitiously moved her in the dark of ship’s night.

‘She’ was next sighted in sick bay and the word bubble now reminded the crew to get their annual check-ups.  The near constant steam of people entering sick bay to visit ‘the captain’ had the doctor on edge. He was sure to remind the gapers that this was a place of science, not a side show. Chakotay soon had to respond to the doctor’s plea that the standee be removed to another part of the ship.  But staff morale was up and incident reports were down.  The distraction was good for the crew’s mental health, or at least it was easy enough for Chakotay to convince the doc of such.  In reality, he was enjoying the diversion as much as anyone else.  Seeing ‘her’ face made it a bit easier to bear that his best friend had been away for 10 days.  He missed her laugh, her smile, the way she spoke with her hands, and the way those hands would sometimes graze his chest.  As much fun as the standee stand-in was for the crew, Chakotay hoped that she would make her way home soon.

=Ʌ=Ʌ=Ʌ=Ʌ=Ʌ=Ʌ=Ʌ=Ʌ=Ʌ=Ʌ=Ʌ=Ʌ=Ʌ=Ʌ=Ʌ=Ʌ=Ʌ=Ʌ=Ʌ=Ʌ=Ʌ=

The fourth appearance was on the bridge. The standee stood just in front of the real Janeway’s command chair, staring at the view screen as if she was ready to dress down an alien ambassador.  When word got out that one of the Delaney twins had won the betting pool on where the next sighting would be, the flow of visitors on the bridge to confirm the rumor was endless. Tom’s station at the helm was crowded with onlookers positioning themselves for holo-images and more than once someone bumped the standee, knocking it over.  Now it was a distraction. There were still reports to be read, scans to be taken, and diagnostics to complete and none of it was getting done in the party-like atmosphere. Luckily there was a limit to the number of beverages permitted on the bridge, or there would probably have been more tribute coffee left at her feet, spilling on the carpeting. Enough was enough.  Grabbing the standee around the waist, Chakotay circled back past his chair, down the stairs, and between the helm and the view screen, away from the throng of visitors. As he passed Tom’s station, something caught his eye.  _Program Input: Flat Kat. Sequence initiate: 0300_ ** _._** Pausing, he realized what the text meant.  Chakotay’s eyes narrowed as Tom gulped nervously.  It may be a chaotic scene now, but at least the stunt had lifted the crew from their doldrums.  He could let this one slide.

Entering the peace of the ready room, Chakotay set the standee back on its feet. The supports at the floor were a bit bent from the excitement, and it kept tilting over.  Somehow it didn’t see right to let Kathryn’s likeness topple onto the floor, so Chakotay continued to right it as it listed. Soon, he realized that this was probably the most he’d ever touch something resembling Kathryn Janeway. The real woman had seemed oblivious of his feelings for her, and he could list a thousand reasons why they could likely never be more than just captain and commander, or best case scenario, continued friends. With his hands on the standee’s two-dimensional arms, Chakotay took the quiet moment to examine the face of the woman he loved.  He’d never been able to look at her this closely for this long.  But oh, how he had wanted to.  He longed to help her hair out of its twist, and feel the soft skin of her cheek under his fingers. He yearned to learn what she tasted like and if she would moan his name after they kissed. He would have no choice but to say hers like a prayer.  Kathryn.

Sighing, Chakotay resigned himself and tried to regain his control.  Pressing his brow to that of the standees, he made a silent oath that he would always let Kathryn’s needs come first and he would move at her pace, if he was ever lucky enough that she could someday know his heart.

“Commander?”

What Chakotay hadn’t noticed, deep in his reverie, was that the door to the ready room had slid open, and that Captain Janeway and Tuvok now stood behind him, taking in the scene. He turned slowly, his face beet red and his heart racing. She had seen what would have been a tender and private moment, if both participants were people.  But in this case one was cardboard...and looked just like her.

“Thank you Tuvok.  We’ll go over the trade agreement later,” she said, dismissing Tuvok to the bridge. “Well, Chakotay,” she continued once they were alone, “it seems that I missed a rousing few days of excitement.”

“Yes, Captain. My apologies. I had come here to move Flat Kat...the standee from public view.  Some of the crew had become a bit...rowdy.”

“I see,” Kathryn said, crossing to the likeness of herself, appraising it.  “It’s not a bad copy.  The height seems right.  My hair is a bit different now, though.” Turning to face Chakotay, she placed one hand on the standee’s shoulders.  They stood next to each other like identical twins.  “I hope it can’t replace the real thing though.”

“Not a chance.”  Chakotay blushed again at the impertinence of his remark.

“Good,” Kathryn said, patting the standee’s shoulder as she crossed to exit the ready room.  She stopped though, a few steps away from the door.  What she said to him then, before she walked out of the room, knocked the air from Chakotay’s lungs and made getting caught a few minutes ago utterly worth it.

“Oh, and Chakotay,” Kathryn continued, “if you ever wanted a few minutes in a dark quiet room with the genuine article, all you had to do was ask.”

**Author's Note:**

> The prompt was courtesy of my dear friend Helen, and is based on this photo: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/e5/d1/8a/e5d18ac6eeaa2804d0ea63937375aa54.jpg


End file.
